Abstract
Studies on emergence of Turkish industrial design education suggest that, foundation of industrial design education was more of a result of government policies and academy, rather than a demand of Turkish industries. Turkish students who were educated abroad played important roles in department foundations, along with foreign scholars. Until late 90’s, the number of industrial design bachelor programs in Turkey was not more than five. However, in 2018, there were almost 30 bachelor programs in Turkey. The aim of this research is to explore the motives behind the rapid increase in the number of industrial design departments in Turkey. The paper explores the initial grounds for emergence of industrial design departments through the literature. To explore the recent motivations for formation of industrial design departments, 5 head of departments are interviewed. Four of them are the founder of departments. The main motivations, missions and strategies of these departments are questioned, along with the logic behind the curriculums of the departments. Results demonstrate that the missions of recently established industrial design departments are mainly defined by their regional environment and actions taken within available facilities and sources.
Keywords
industrial design education, newly-industrializing countries, industrial design departments
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2019.09095
Citation
Eroğlu, I.,and Ekmekçioğlu, D.(2019) Exploring the motives behind the formations of industrial design programs in Turkey, in Börekçi, N., Koçyıldırım, D., Korkut, F. and Jones, D. (eds.), Insider Knowledge, DRS Learn X Design Conference 2019, 9-12 July, Ankara, Turkey. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2019.09095
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Exploring the motives behind the formations of industrial design programs in Turkey
Studies on emergence of Turkish industrial design education suggest that, foundation of industrial design education was more of a result of government policies and academy, rather than a demand of Turkish industries. Turkish students who were educated abroad played important roles in department foundations, along with foreign scholars. Until late 90’s, the number of industrial design bachelor programs in Turkey was not more than five. However, in 2018, there were almost 30 bachelor programs in Turkey. The aim of this research is to explore the motives behind the rapid increase in the number of industrial design departments in Turkey. The paper explores the initial grounds for emergence of industrial design departments through the literature. To explore the recent motivations for formation of industrial design departments, 5 head of departments are interviewed. Four of them are the founder of departments. The main motivations, missions and strategies of these departments are questioned, along with the logic behind the curriculums of the departments. Results demonstrate that the missions of recently established industrial design departments are mainly defined by their regional environment and actions taken within available facilities and sources.